Record turnout marks Every Child Matters walk and residential school memorial unveiling in Tyendinaga

The sixth annual Every Child Matters walk, hosted by the Tyendinaga Native Women’s Association, drew its largest crowd to date before participants gathered for the unveiling of a new residential school memorial.

The events took place on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. September 30 marks both Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation annually.

The new monument in Tyendinaga is intended to be more than a marker at the Karonhiaktakie Sports Complex. Jessica Karahkwinehtha Brant, Kanien’kehá:ka Coordinator with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, explained that the project was developed with community input, with particular care taken to ensure the memorial reflected the experiences of those affected by residential schools without re-traumatizing community members.

The memorial is also intended to be a place where people can reflect and learn about residential schools, their legacy, Truth and Reconciliation, and the Calls to Action.

Its inscription remembers “the children who were removed from their homes and forced into Residential Schools” and honours their families and communities, describing the memorial as a symbol of healing and strength and “a place of remembrance, reflection, and reclamation.”

A QR code incorporated into the monument connects visitors to additional information on the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) website, including a video of the inscription being spoken, and an evolving list of community members who attended residential schools. Brant said that work remains ongoing, with community members invited to provide missing names or corrections.

Among the details incorporated into the memorial is a pair of bronze moccasins based on a pair hand-sewn by community member Curtis Maracle specifically for the casting process.

But much of Wednesday’s ceremony was about the people whose experiences give the memorial its meaning.

Chief Donald Maracle invited community members who had relatives attend residential schools to gather around the monument before reflecting on the history of the residential school system and the trauma it created across generations.

Maracle spoke about that impact within his own family, saying the hurt experienced by his grandfather carried forward to his mother and then to the next generation.

He also urged Canadians to look beyond wearing an orange shirt for one day each year and continue the work of reconciliation.

“We’re on a path of healing and reconciliation, and there’s work to be done,” Maracle told the crowd.

Wilber Maracle, one of the last surviving residential school attendees living on the territory, shared some of his own memories.

He was eight years old when he arrived at the Mohawk Institute in Brantford in November 1943.

Maracle recalled travelling there with his mother and brother and being told they would stay for the night. When he woke the next morning, his mother was gone.

“I said to him right away, ‘Where’s my mother?’ And he said, ‘She’s gone, and you’ve got to stay here,’” Maracle recalled.

“I don’t ever remember crying before I went to that school.”

More than eight decades later, at 91, Maracle told the crowd he can still remember those experiences.

He also spoke about the life he built after residential school, including his work with young people in the community and the ball teams he coached, before telling the crowd how much it meant to see families and children gathered together.

The memorial project began taking shape in 2024, with community members, MBQ staff and the Campbell Monument Company working through its design and cultural elements. Youth were invited forward to help remove the covering and reveal the finished monument.

The unveiling marked the completion of a physical memorial, but the message throughout the ceremony was that reconciliation itself is ongoing, and that everyone has a role in that work.